Blog Challenge Day 7

So I know I've been a major slacker on this blog challenge thing lately, but I'm pretty sure I warned everybody that I wasn't going to be able to blog every day...my life is just SO busy:) But for now it's back to normal so hooray for the 6 people who actually read my blog, I'm back!

Day 7- A Picture of Someone/Something That Has The Biggest Impact on You

This is a really hard topic for me, because there are quite a few things/people that have had a really big impact on my life. Obviously something that has the biggest influence on my life is my religion. I've been taking a Book of Mormon institute class this year that is just amazing! Every single time I go to it I leave determined to be a better person, and it really is changing my whole life. My friends have a big influence on my life. Sports had a huge impact on my life. My family is another one of those obvious ones, because it would just be silly to say that they haven't had a bigger impact on my life than anybody else, but I think the person I'm going to talk about in this post is my mom.

Try to imagine the most loving, patient, wonderful, perfect woman you can...and that imaginary woman couldn't even come close to how awesome my mom is. I remember when I was in high school my friends would come to school sometimes and tell me about how they had been fighting with their moms and that just seemed so weird to me! I'm sure there were times when I disagreed with my mom (and I'm sure I made it known that i disagreed, because that's the kind of little turd I have always been) but I would feel SO guilty fighting with my mom.

My mom got to be a stay-at-home mom for most of my other siblings childhoods, but unfortunately she had to go back to work when I was about 4. She loved being a stay-at-home mom and I'm sure she was the best one ever when she got to do it! But even though she didn't get to be at home all the time, my mom has still had a bigger impact on my life than anybody else.

When I was younger my mom taught me how to do things for myself. She never made my bed or cleaned my room for me. Instead she would explain to me at least once a day why it was important for me to make my bed, and I would TRY to explain to her how pointless it was. She taught me how to do my own laundry and how to cook and sew. Yes, I realize I'm a total dork for taking cooking and sewing 4-H for like seven years, but if I needed to sew myself a parka or a dress or pretty much anything, I could do it. And I am better at making divinity and yams than anyone else in my whole family. She also taught me how to do my own laundry, and even though I hated it, I'm glad I already knew how to wash my clothes when I came to school.

When I was in high school, my mom would wake up at 5 in the morning when I had early morning practice to make sure I got something warm and healthy to eat. Then while I was eating my breakfast, she would put on some boots and walk outside with the broom and clean all of the snow off of my car in the freezing cold weather and turn it on so it would be warm when I was ready to leave. Then she would go to work all day, come home and make dinner, and then work on other things around the house until about 11 at night.

She would only sit down to watch the news each night because she wanted to watch the weather, but she was always so tired from the day that she could never stay awake long enough to actually see the weather forecast. But she never acted picked on or upset. She always had the best attitude of anyone and never let it show when she was stressed out or upset about something.

When I was playing sports she would try her very hardest to make it to my games, and I know she would've come to every single one if she could have. She could never come to my away games because of work, but one of my very favorite memories is from when I was in 8th grade and my Mom skipped a whole day of work to come to our district volleyball tournament and watch me play. This is extremely uncharacteristic of my mother. She pretty much has to be on her death bed to take a day off of work or miss a church meeting.

I will never forget how excited I was to see her there. She wanted to surprise me, and I'll never forget how happy I felt that she made that sacrifice for me.

My mom has never been the most popular person, and she's never tried to be. She doesn't try to be cool, because she is content serving people quietly from the background. But my mom is seriously the coolest person I know! She is the reason I try so hard to do what's right. She's the reason I get up in the morning and go to school and work hard at the things I do, because more than anything I want to make her proud.

She has sacrificed so much for me, and I feel like I could spend the rest of my life trying to pay her back and I'd never even come close. My sister Becky wrote something about my mom awhile ago, and it said, "She rarely bought clothes for herself as I was growing up.  If it was between a 3rd new pair of pants for me, or one new shirt for her, I would get the 3rd pair of pants." My mom hardly ever bought things for herself because she was always spending money on us instead.

 I could go on forever about how awesome my mom is and how much I love her, but to wrap this up I'll just say that I have the best mom in the world. I was so worried last year because I didn't know what I wanted to major in at school. Then one day I had an experience that I will never forget. I was sitting in my institute class one day and it occurred to me that it didn't matter what I am when I graduate from school, as long as I'm proud of the person I am when I do it. That day in the institute building I decided what I want to be when I grow up.

When I grow up, I want to be the kind of person that other people want to be like, not because of the things I do, but because of the things I refrain from doing. I want to be the kind of person that people admire not because of the things I have, but because of what I've given to others. I want to be the kind of person that people look up to not because of the life I live, but because of the lives I've helped changed. When I grow up, I want to be somebody's hero. When I grow up, I want to be just like my mom.

I LOVE YOU MOM! Thanks for everything:)